Tom Karlsson
Pojknacke
Lystring

The label that brought us the most recent Brainbombs album ("Fucking mess") blesses us yet another lesson in uneasy listening, Tom Karlsson's "Pojknacke". However, this time the bummer vibes come not from harsh repetitive riffs and questionable lyrical content, but from minimalist industrial sound collage layered with the sort of overcooked narration you expect to hear at a puppet show. Can't say I'm all that into it though, especially without the proper Swedish comprehension skills to follow the narrative, but what it comes down to is that the music simply isn't all that compelling. Songs start and stop without much in the way of drama or dynamics and after a while I'm left thinking "is this it?" Thankfully no, Mr. Karlsson did see fit to provide us with a spectacularly gruesome gatefold cover image, so at least it's got that going for it.
- Avi Roig